Know types of heart conditions and importance of CPR

Due to lack of awareness about various medical conditions related to the heart, quite often, a lot of people get confused between a heart attack, cardiac arrest and strokE

Hyderabad: Due to lack of awareness about various medical conditions related to the heart, quite often, a lot of people get confused between a heart attack, cardiac arrest and stroke. Also, quite often, general public tend to use these terms interchangeably, which often leads to a lot of confusion.

Here are some of the most common terms that are related to various heart ailments and their causes.

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Types of heart conditions and importance of CPR:

• Heart attacks:
Heart attacks among individuals happen when a blocked artery stops blood from reaching the heart. If blocked artery is not opened quickly, then the part of the heart, which received blood from the artery, dies. To avoid damage to heart, the arteries must be reopened.

• Cardiac arrest:

Sudden cardiac arrests occur when the heart without warning stops pumping blood due to electrical failure, sometimes also causing irregular heart beat (arrhythmia). Due to electrical failure, the heart can’t pump blood to organs like brains, lungs and other organs. As a result, the person loses consciousness and a pulse. The person if they don’t receive help in minutes. Sometimes, the heart muscles go weak, and they could also lead to cardiac arrest.

• For what heart condition CPR is used?

CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is given to persons who are in cardiac arrest. “If you administer CPR at the right time, then there is 80 percent chance that the individual who is experiencing cardiac arrest will be saved. While Western countries have made CPR a very common treatment modality, we are lagging behind. There is a dire need for people to be aware of the lifesaving AED,” says Dr B Vijaya Rao, US-trained master instructor in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and faculty, American Heart Association.

• Strokes:

Strokes are entirely related to the brain. It happens when the flow of blood to the brain gets obstructed and the brain tissue does not get oxygen and nutrients from the blood. As a result, the brain cells (neurons) start to die. Brain stroke is a medical emergency and patients must be taken to a trained doctor as early as possible to reduce the damage to the brain cells.